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apostles, and particularly how apt they were to be alarmed at the introduction of any thing that was new to them, and had the least appearance of contrariety to the law of Moses, it will both supply a strong argument in favour of the truth of christianity, and against their receiving the doctrine of the divinity or pre-existence of Christ either then or afterwards. Their rooted prejudices against the apostle Paul (whose conversion to christianity must have given them great satisfaction) merely, on account of his activity in preaching the gofpel to the uncircumcised Gentiles (though with the approbation of the rest of the apostles) shows that they would not receive any novelty without the strongest evidence. Their dillike of the apostle Paul, we know from ecclesiastical history, continued to the lateit period of their existence as a church, and they would never make use of his writings. But to the very last, their objections to him amounted to nothing more than his being no friend to the law of Moses.

The resemblance between the character of the Ebionites, as given by the carly chris

tian

tian Fathers, and that of the Jewish chriftians at the time of Paul's laft journey to Jerufalem, is very ftriking. After he had given an account of his conduct to the more intelligent of them, they were fatisfied with it; but they thought there would be great difficulty in fatisfying others. "Thou "seest brother," say they to him, Acts xxi. 20. "how many thousands of Jews "there are who believe, and they are all "zealous of the law. And they are in"formed of thee, that thou teachest all the

Jews who are among the Gentiles, to for"fake Mofes; faying that they ought not "to circumcife their children, neither to

walk after the customs. What is it "therefore? The multitudes must needs "come together, for they will hear that "thou art come. Do therefore this that "we fay unto thee: We have four men who have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyfelf with them, and be at charges "with them, that they may have their heads, and all may know that thofe things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing, but that thou thyself * alfo

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"alfo walkeft orderly and keepest the law." So great a resemblance in fome things, viz. their attachment to the law, and their prejudices against Paul, cannot but lead us to imagine, that they were the fame in other respects alfo, both being equally zealous obfervers of the law, and equally strangers to the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. In that age all the Jews were equally zealous for the great doctrine of the unity of God, and their peculiar cuftoms. Can it be fuppofed then that they would fo obftinately retain the one, and fo readily abandon the other?

I have not met with any mention of more than one orthodox Jewish chriftian in the course of my reading, and that is one whose name was Jofeph, whom Epiphanius says he met with at Scythopolis, when all the other inhabitants of the place were Arians. Hær. 30. Opera, vol. 1. P. 129.

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CHAPTER IX.

Of the fuppofed Church of Orthodox Jews at Jerufalem, fubfequent to the Time of Adrian.

MOSH

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OSHEIM speaks of a church of trinitarian Jews, who had abandoned the law of Mofes, and refided at Jerufalem, fubfequent to the time of Adrian. Origen, who afferts that all the Jewish christians of his time conformed to the law of Mofes, he fays, must have known of this church; and therefore he does not hesitate to tax him with afferting a wilful falfehood. Error was often afcribed to this great man by the later Fathers, but never before, I believe, was his veracity called in queftion. And leaft of all can it be supposed, that he would have dared to affert a notorious untruth in a public controverfy. He must have been a fool, as well as a knave, to have ventured upon it.

Bodies

Bodies of men do not suddenly change their opinions, and much less their customs and habits ; least of all would an act of violence produce that effect; and of all mankind the experiment was the least likely to answer with the Jews. If it had produced

any effect for a time, their old customs and habits would certainly have returned when the danger was over. It might just as well be supposed that all the Jews in Jerusalem began at that time to speak Greek, as well as that they abandoned their ancient customs. And this might have been alledged in favour of it, that from that time the bishops of Jerusalem were all Greeks, the public of fices were no doubt performed in the Greek language, and the church of Jerusalem was indeed, in all respects, as much a Greek church as that of Antioch.

Mosheim produces no authority in hisDiffertations for his assertion. He only says, that he cannot reconcile the fact that' Origen mentions, with his seeming unwil-' lingness to allow the Ebionites to be chrif-' tians. But this is easily accounted for from the attachment which he himself had to the

doctrine

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